Environmental change and booming oil production have severely affected the indigenous ways of life of the Siberian Khanty and Mansi peoples, but they’re fighting to keep their traditions alive.

The Khanty and Mansi tribes have been living in Siberia for centuries, breeding deer, fishing and hunting, and they still choose to live like generations of their predecessors, even if modern times are taking their toll.

Their tribal fields range from 1,300 to 5,200 square kilometres, which makes even a simple visit to neighbours a long journey.

The Khanty and Mansi tribes have been living in Siberia for centuries, breeding deer, fishing and hunting, and they still choose to live like generations of their predecessors, even if modern times are taking their toll.

Their tribal fields range from 1,300 to 5,200 square kilometres, which makes even a simple visit to neighbours a long journey.

Vitaly Kazamkin’s family has been living on the outskirts of Varyogan, a village in the Khanty-Mansiysk region, for at least eight generations, and he says reindeer herding is in his blood.

“It takes from ten to twelve reindeer a year to provide my family with clothes and meat. I’m not used to living without reindeer,” he says.

There’s a belief among the Khanty people that it’s bad luck to say exactly how many reindeer they have, but according to the region’s administration, 28 of the families living there have over 2,000 reindeer.

Reindeer herding is hard work, so to help preserve the tradition among the Varyogan people, the government provides annual financial help to families.

It is introducing laws and financial programmes to increase the percentage of population pursuing traditional ways of life.

“Our government is helping indigenous people to preserve their original traditions and ways of life. It's very important that they use subsidies not just to live on, but to maintain their culture,” says Aleksandr Novyukhov, head of the ‘Save Yugra’ organisation.

Another source of help for reindeer herders is money from oil companies. They sign contracts for operating on oil-rich tribal fields in exchange for annual financial compensation. Vitaly Kazamkin started co-operating with oil companies in the 80s. He says he understands how important oil production is for the region, but he is worried about the ecological situation.

“When oil companies started operating on our territory, they damaged the ecology in the region. They destroyed a lot of small rivers, so we were forced to travel far away to find fish. And you can’t get far on reindeer, so they started supplying us with motorised toboggans,” says Kazamkin.

Settlements like Varyogan can be found all across the taiga. However, the Khanty and Mansi peoples total no more than about 30,000 people, which is only 2 per cent of the population of Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous region.